I generally like to check in once a week with a post covering some of my exploits and the stories that come with them. This has not been the run-of-the-mill 3 weeks since my last Zekely. It has been pretty much been the most epic adventure in recent memory and I am tasked with wrapping up a couple dozen adventures in 1 post. Can't really do it justice but lemme pick a few cool moments to give you a taste for future blogs.
What happens when you can join your brother for a heavily augmented martial arts getaway to an exotic location? Here is a bit of it!
Mexican Revelry!
First of all, vacationing with a big group of friends is highly recommended no matter where your destination is. A group like this can make a great time out of anywhere you happen to gather. When you make that place the Yucatan Peninsula and assemble once a year, that is gonna be epic.
First, the Pre-Vacation
You may have seen the latest foodie review of Kusam on Cozumel @zekepickleman/cervesaria-kusam-a-zeke-tasteem-review which will give you an idea where we started. 3 bonus days on Cozumel Island for a little diving and a whole lot of beer before the real vacation. They let the Blockchain Beerologist pour his own triple IPA and it was ON!
We chugged pints, rented scooters, and literally covered the whole island with our tracks. All around town, across to the far side of the island, down the west coast to the bottom and back to town on the lower east coast. Restaurants of all sorts, cervesas, rum and a few neat resorts for some beer and live music.
I had an hour or 2 at the end of this first chapter of our vacation to reflect on 3 fantastic days. Plenty of beers, a sketchy run in with cheech and his mustache, near misses on the scooter, guided scuba dives of the reef, night clubs galore and even a little hammock time. This would have seriously been vacation enough but we had not even gotten started.
Off to the mainland to meet with 100 other Jiu Jitsu practitioners to gather with world champions and kick things into gear.
Meeting the Jiu Jitieros!
The first day was special as I had the chance to meet so many fast friends bound immediately by our martial art of choice. Hanging in the pool and enjoying drinks with the BJJ heroes like Xande Ribiero https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/xande-ribeiro-fighter-wiki by the pool made it special enough. I had no idea what was in store.
There were catamaran parties with dozens from our party where we hung out, drank heavily, snorkeled with sting rays and sea turtles.
These folks really know how to work hard and play hard.
Tropical Adventure
There were caves to explore and even swim through. I would highly recommend booking a trip to the cenotes if you are in the area. At this place, we also had the chance to drive 4-wheelers through the jungle, ride a whole bunch of zip lines, and enjoy so much tropical adventure.
Beach!
You can crawl my blog in the past week and surely for weeks to come to tag along for the beach adventures. This one was later in the week and was as relaxing as the rest of the week was wild.
The way we hit town every night would have been respectable had it not been in the middle of a pandemic. We all had to have PCR covid tests (the ones where the swab almost hits your brain) in order to even participate in this escape. Knowing we were all safe, we travelled in a battalion, ordered bottle service and hit the dance floor hard every night. Half strange and the rest AWESOME!
Food!
The food in an all inclusive is not always great. This is not the case here as there was a nice sushi bar, high-class restaurant, and buffet with amazing local food. Of all the central American places I have been, Mexico seems to have the best food.
Bonus Round: Karaoke
After our epic prevacation and 6 days of insanity, we tacked on a couple days at the end of the trip to relax a little and take whatever was left on the table. In true Goat Rodeo style, we capped our trip off with a karaoke tour of Playa Del Carmen. We only managed to hit 4 karaoke bars before the curfew hit but we saw a million faces, and we rocked them all.
It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!
When all is said and done, this picture would be what I would hope would come from this trip. When I take a look to revisit the friends made an epic adventures had on and off the mats, I can't put in adequate words how amazing and timely this trip is. For my Hive BJJ friends, I would highly recommend joining me on this trip in the years to come. You are welcome in advance.
For the folks battling through lockdowns and different brands of challenges, I hope this has given you a little respite and inspiration that we will get through this and on to better times.
Thanks for checking in and sharing in our epic Mexican adventure!
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